Black Hole
by Kat271
Summary: The aftermath of "The Telling" --Sydney tries to regroup after two years, and find the life that was sucked into a black hole.
1. An Explanation

Yeah Yeah Yeah, none of it's mine; everything from Alias comes from the brilliant mind of JJ and is property of ABC. But hey you can't blame a girl for daydreaming!  
  
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"Hold on for just a second," She needed a moment to breathe in enormity of what he'd just said.  
  
"Two years..dead..wedding ring. Will's okay... What?" Everything Vaughn had just told her was swirling around in her head. Not logically sequencing, not logically .anything. None of it was logical. "What do you mean 'They called you back', Vaughn? What did they need to call you back from?" She couldn't focus on anything but the details of what he'd said. The "big picture" was too much to take in all at once.  
  
"Sydney.." He sighed. "After I. after you.." He took a deep breath. "I left the CIA. I couldn't take being there . I couldn't be there without thinking.you weren't there." He rubbed his hands together and looked down. He couldn't even look at her. Not with all that had happened while she was. gone.  
  
"You left the CIA?" She couldn't take in anymore. His tear-swollen eyes, the way he wrung his hands, none of it. She stood up and walked to the window, of the small hotel room they were sitting in.  
  
"Sydney I.." He tried to speak but instead was overcome by emotion.  
  
"Vaughn.don't. I can't..I can't think about." she took a deep breath. "I can't ...This is all just too much." She looked over at him. His head was in his hands. All she could think of doing was going to him. Holding him. Being held by him. But she couldn't. She was truly alone. Not even Vaughn could help her through this, comfort her. She had been dead to him. She had been dead to the world. They had all gone on..without her. Vaughn, Will, the CIA, her father. "Vaughn..." He looked up at her. Tears streaking his face. "Where's my father?" She stood there waiting for him to answer, but he just looked at her.  
  
His expression didn't change. Not a muscle in his face moved. He didn't breathe. She had just found out that she'd been presumed dead. How he wore a wedding ring on his finger. How he'd left the CIA. How two years of her life was missing. How was he supposed to explain about her father? He couldn't. Not here. Not now. Not with ..all of this.  
  
"Since I've left the CIA I haven't heard anything about him." It wasn't a lie, but in no way was it the entire truth.  
  
Sydney walked back over to the bed and sat down. "When ... I mean .when do we go back to LA."  
  
He looked up from the floor but didn't meet her gaze. "We have a jet, set to leave at 1600 hours. We'll be back in LA by morning." He stood up. Sydney followed suit. Suddenly they were standing there face to face. Their eyes locked.  
  
"Sydney." He looked down.  
  
"What." She said quickly with unintentional harshness.  
  
"There's a lot to talk about.. I think.. it would be best if we waited . until we get back to LA." He starred at the floor as he spoke.  
  
She watched him as he said those words. He looked down. Shifted his weight. Stuffed his hands into his pockets. So much had happened, not only in the last two years, but in the last two minutes. As she listened to what he said she could only wonder weather to still love this man. This man who, to her, was still her boyfriend, her confidant, her only ally, her partner, handler. the man who she was going to accompany to Santa Barbra. She wasn't sure weather the ring on his finger meant she should hate him, or pity him.  
  
Sydney was still too in shock to even try and look at things from his point of view. God, she was still reeling from the fact that she remembered the events of what was two years ago, like they were yesterday. In fact she couldn't bear to think of her "yesterday" because "yesterday" she had found her best friend almost dead in her bathtub, and she had fought and killed her other best friend. Yes, there was no mistaking that she remembered these events like yesterday.  
  
"Sydney." he touched her arm, awakening her from her thoughtful reverie.  
  
"Yeah," she looked up at him, and met his gaze. She smiled a little, and then quickly realized that what she remembered from "yesterday", what she knew was real and true and logical, it had all gone out the window. Every detail of her life, her friends, her family, her lover.... all of it had been wiped out of existence. Her entire life was gone, and she didn't even remember it. Now what she knew of her life, was 26 years of certainty.. and then one hell of a big black hole.  
  
**************************************************************************** **Plenty more where this came from. Please R/R, but be nice I'm a first timer! 


	2. The Search

Yeah Yeah Yeah, none of it's mine; everything from Alias comes from the brilliant mind of JJ and is property of ABC. But hey you can't blame a girl for daydreaming!  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
They hadn't said another word to each other since they left the hotel room. Vaughn hailed a cab, they rode in silence, and arrived at the air strip before the jet was ready to leave. Sydney felt the car stop beneath her, and had to physically shake herself back into reality. She got out of the car, closed the door, and began walking toward the plane. She was about ten yards behind Vaughn; and as she followed him she felt herself wanting to run to him. In the car they could have been across the universe from each other, but they were no more than two feet apart. She longed for the Vaughn she knew. She could care less about anything else right now.  
  
"Sydney!" Someone calling her name brought her back to reality. She looked up from the wet pavement to the man standing at the bottom of the plane's stairs. She looked at him for a moment, not moving or breathing. She just looked at him. She was already so emotionally drained that she could barely smile at the sight of her partner. And as she stood there looking at her friend, realizing what it meant that they were standing there face to face, she began to cry.  
  
She took a few steps toward him, and Dixon met her somewhere in the middle, and hugged her. She wasn't sure how long, he just held her, right there in the rain, on the freezing wet airstrip, but he held her. And she let go, if only a little. For those few moments she stopped trying to be the sole barer of this great burden. As her friend, and partner held her she was able to simply be Sydney, she was able to feel the emotions of fear, anger, grief, betrayal; all of it, just for that small amount of time, it was released.  
  
Vaughn stood at the top of the stairs, leading into the plane, and watched. He sighed, resigning himself to shed no more tears tonight. God, he would have given up everything to be the one holding her right now. When he'd walked into that hotel room, in the safe house, and she'd hugged him as if.. As if they we still lovers. As if no time had passed since that terrible night. He had to look away in order to keep his emotions in check. He'd tried every waking moment to forget that night. He hadn't slept, for when he did, he only dreamt of her, and losing her. Seeing her again brought back those memories for him. He couldn't help but think of walking into her home, that night. The place was torn to pieces. He'd yelled her name, "Sydney. Sydney!" But no answer came. He made his way into the bedroom where he found that .girl, dead. She had been shot by Sydney's gun. The lab said the blood on the mirror across from the girl was Sydney's.  
  
It was when he was reaching down to pick up her gun that he'd heard him. It was the faintest sound, but the entire house, the entire city, was quiet, so he heard. It was Will, he'd been calling for Sydney as well. Vaughn called an ambulance and held Will until EMS got there. The entire time he couldn't imagine where Sydney had gone to. He was in such a state of shock that the fact that she'd been taken or even killed didn't cross his mind. He could only wonder why she had left Will there dying. Why would she leave? Where did she go?  
  
After a few minutes, and a few deep breaths, he realized his cell phone was in his pocket. And he sat there on the floor of Sydney's bathroom, holding her bleeding friend, calling her cell phone over and over and over again. She always answered, why wasn't she answering? Maybe she went to the hospital. Maybe she went to CIA ops. Jack, I should call Jack. His head was spinning, his mind was racing.  
  
"Hello Jack..Agent Bristow, its Vaughn. no I haven't heard from Sydney, she's not answering her cell. ..I'm at her place.. There's an ambulance on the way. .Yes. You should come..Something's wrong Jack." He'd hung up.  
  
When Jack arrived, he was able to control his emotions much more than Vaughn could. The ambulance was taking Will away, and Jack had brought a team. Vaughn had said something was wrong.  
  
The team had swept the house, the neighborhood,.. No signs of Sydney. They checked all the hospitals, all the police stations. Jack decided to head back to CIA operations to talk with Kendall. Jack didn't say it, but Vaughn knew, something was very wrong. Vaughn went to the hospital to check on Will. He was in surgery and Vaughn waited. When he came out, Vaughn sat with him. Surely Sydney would come see Will, she would do that right? He'd woken up the next morning to the sound of Will's heart monitor alarms going off. They came and took Will away to surgery again. They told Vaughn it didn't look good. So he left.  
  
He drove. He went to the train station where they'd sat and talked in secret. Where he'd told her he'd help her save Will. Where he'd said that he was her ally. He went to the pier, where they'd held hands and talked about her screwed up life. He went to the warehouse, to the bookstore, to the park..he went everywhere they'd ever been together.  
  
Hours later when he'd arrived at CIA Operations, Kendall told him to go into the conference room for a briefing. After the words "Agent Sydney Bristow is missing." he'd zoned out. Barely listening to the leads Kendall and Jack had come up with. It began with the CIA's entire LA branch looking for her. Weiss, Marshall, Dixon, everyone focused every minute of everyday on finding her. Slowly Kendall was forced to send some of the operatives on other missions, and soon the search was put on hold.  
  
Jack and Vaughn both fought with Kendall vigorously. She'd only been missing for six months, why would the CIA stop looking now. Jack took a leave of absence to go out and look for her on his own. Vaughn agreed to stay. But within two weeks decided he couldn't handle it anymore. He left the CIA. He drowned himself in alcohol. He decided it wasn't worth living if he had to do it without Sydney. And then came Alice.  
  
More to come!! Please R/R 


	3. Changes

"Sydney, wake up. We're about to land." His voice was cold. It wasn't his gentle-kind voice. It was the voice of cold indifference, and restrained emotion. She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. She listened to the sound of his footsteps as the faded away, and then peeked out from under her blanket to make sure he was gone. After making sure of this, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. The harsh light if the airplane stung. Sydney buckled her seat belt and looked out the window. The sun had just come up over LA.  
  
Dixon watched as she woke up. He had watched her the entire time she had slept. She was more than his partner, more than a friend; She was like a daughter. When she and her father had been estranged, he had been there for her. Just as she had been there for him when his wife was murdered. And then, not long after Diane. she had disappeared. Vanished in to thin air. He had looked for her. He had not slept the first couple weeks after she'd gone missing. Jack had not know but he'd gone all over the world in search of her.  
  
He watched as Sydney interacted with Vaughn. Dixon didn't know the man well, but he knew that Sydney and he had meant something to each other. He knew that they were partners professionally, but Dixon also had a feeling that they had been more than that. While Sydney had slept Vaughn had sat across from her watching. Every few minutes he would look away, as if the sight of her was to much to take in all at once. Yes, that was more than the look of a lost-and then- found, partner. It was the look of despair, betrayal, complete and utter angst. Sydney had the same look on her face when she looked at him, though hers was one of more confusion.  
  
Dixon realized that he'd been staring at her, when her warm smile broke into his reverie. He loved that smile. It was comforting, it was innocent, it was...so completely Sydney. He had missed that smile, so very much.  
  
"Dixon." She stopped. She looked down in a confused sort of way, as if trying to gather her thoughts.  
  
"Yes, Sydney." He coaxed her on, knowing that it must be hard for her to find words to questions, which she shouldn't have to be asking. She looked up again and unbuckled her seatbelt. She walked across the aisle and came to sit next to him.  
  
"My father..Vaughn said..well he didn't, or wouldn't tell me." She looked up at him with a furrowed brow. Innocently wanting to know, but worried about what she might discover. Dixon wasn't quite sure of his reply and looked down his hands in his lap. With one of them he reached over and grabbed Sydney's hand.  
  
"Sydney." He sighed. "After you disappeared. After all the searching." He looked up at her. A tear rolled down her check.  
  
"Dixon." She needed to know, he needed to tell her.  
  
"He's gone Sydney. He's just gone. He spent months running all over the world looking for you. He tried to find your mother."  
  
"My mother?" She interrupted, and paused to contemplate this. " Did he find her?"  
  
"I don't know. He checked in with me about a year ago from Vietnam, and then dropped off the face of the earth."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"That he was following a lead on your mother, which he had hoped would lead to you. .Sydney he never gave up hope, he ..." He looked down at the ground, holding back tears. "Sydney he never once let himself think that you weren't alive, and that he couldn't find you."  
  
She took a deep breath, trying in vain to stop the tears which were rolling down her cheeks. The plane was descending, and she realized that she needed to buckle her seatbelt. She did so, and stared at it for a few moments before speaking. "You haven't heard anything?"  
  
"No. But Sydney you know your father. If he wanted to be found he would let us know. I'm sure he's already heard that you.. That you're here." Dixon prayed to God that Jack Bristow knew his daughter was alive and well. Dixon prayed that Jack Bristow himself was alive and well.  
  
The plane landed at LAX, and there was a car waiting outside on the tarmac, waiting to take them away. Vaughn opened the door for Sydney and Dixon, and then got into the passenger seat. Sydney didn't ask where they were going. She didn't want to know. All she wanted was her father. Right here with her, knowing that she was alive and safe. She leaned against the tinted window and watched as they drove through the city. It wasn't all that different. Same people on the streets, same cars, trucks, and shops. Everything was the same as it had been "yesterday", or two years ago. If only things were different. Like if nobody drove anymore and instead used hover cars. If things were different than maybe the reality of her situation would sink in. Maybe it would seem like two years had passed instead of two days. But no. The world wasn't going to start being nice now. Everything was the same in the world. There was no difference between "yesterday" and two years ago in the physical world. The change was in her world. In the people she loved. In herself. 


	4. The Men In Her Life

She remembered this Safe House. It was the one that she had taken Agent Lennox to. Dixon led the way into a bedroom.  
  
"You can rest here if you want." He said, looking at her questioningly. She shook her head.  
  
"Thanks, Dixon. You know my friend Will?" She asked as he walked to leave the room. She knew that he had known Will. But at this point, after everything, she just wasn't sure of much. Dixon looked her in the eye and then looked away.  
  
"Sydney you should rest now. There will be plenty of time for answers later." He closed the door.  
  
Normally Sydney would have argued. But she was tired. She was drained emotionally, physically, and mentally. She was glad to have Dixon's support. And she was ever so grateful, that he'd been there in Hong Kong to meet her. However, she needed more than Dixon.  
  
Sydney thought about the people in her life; the men in her life. Dixon, Will, her father.Vaughn. With Francie gone... (or dead?), and her mother gone as well, all that she had left were these men. All of them loved her unconditionally. They had all been her reason to live, fight. her reason for letting herself love again. Will had been there since college. He had been a great person to talk with, hang out with, and just have fun with. Vaughn had said that he was "okay", but Sydney longed to see him. Will was solid. A rock that had never wavered. He had found out about her status as a double agent, he had fought along side her at the CIA, he had been there for her through battles with her father, with Slone. She remembered the way he had always asked after her cell phone rang: "good guys or bad guys?" Sydney really just wanted to see his happy smile, his bright questioning eyes, and most of all she just wanted to hold him for a moment. She wanted to make sure that he'd made it intact through all the shit of the last ..two years, that had felt like two days. She needed to make sure he was real. Sydney realized that in her mind Will should be in the hospital. She should be visiting him in ICU, not wondering if he too had been married in her absence.  
  
Dixon hadn't changed much while she was gone, at least externally. He was the same old calm, composed, great agent he had always been. But he was still the sensitive, father figure she knew and loved. He was a good man. Sydney never doubted that she could trust him. He had never failed her. He was there when Danny died, and she was there when Diane died. They were true partners, and she loved him for that.  
  
As she lay down to sleep, Sydney realized that she wanted more that anything to see her father. This man had been such a paradox to her. He'd lied, cheated, stolen.done despicable things, but he had always loved her. She had, for a long time, doubted that. She had hated him for training her as a spy; for setting up her mother in Madagascar; for not being the father she so desperately needed. But, she knew, that everything he had ever done had been for her. Her safety and happiness were almost always his number one priorities. That was the constant she found in him, along with his uncompromising sense of objectivity and precision. She counted on his support and good sense.  
  
She had never realized before how alike her father and Vaughn were. Sydney forced herself to remember what he was like.before. He was always looking out for her. He was her handler. Her guardian angel. Her ally. Like her father, he always wanted what was best for her. They were thrown together in the wake of SD-6, but there feelings for each other were never just physical attraction. There was something between them, so deep that neither had ever ventured to name or describe it. She loved working with him, talking with him, playing hockey, just sitting in silence with him; she loved making love to him, and waking up with him in the morning. She wasn't sure just how she could miss something so much, when in her world, it had been only a few days since they were together. Only "yesterday" they were planning a vacation to Santa Barbra. She had never seen him so ..so incredibly distant. She wondered if it was because of her, or because. or because being with her made him want to be with someone else.his wife? Was is guilt she saw in his eyes. or was he only the shell of the man she once..she still loved.  
  
Yes, she did still love him. The tears seemed to run faster when she realized she had never told him as much. Why hadn't they ever uttered those words to each other? She knew it, she even knew that he knew.had known it. That was it. What she saw in his eyes was the same thing that was causing her to cry so hysterically. He was in mourning; as she was now. He mourned not her death, but the loss of the thing they had both cherished above everything.before. They had broken rules, and policy, and protocol. They had lost the thing they had resisted for a long time, and had realized for such a short time. They hadn't lost each other..he had found her. They had lost what was between them. The binding force that had once pulled them together against any resistance, and now left and endless, empty chasm of unforgiving despair. Yes, they were both alive. But love was just another casualty to the black hole. 


	5. Living, or something

He didn't expect to be so affected by the sight of her, but he was anyway. Just being in the same room with her. in the same house with her, made him weak. He couldn't think straight, he'd go around walking into things. He did this especially when he paced. He'd paced a lot in the hour since he'd arrived back the safe house. He'd gone to pick up some food, he figured she would be hungry. He could have sent someone. Yeah, there were plenty of agents around, not really doing anything but playing cards. No, he had to go, get out. He had to. It was killing him.  
  
She was just laying there. She was the same, except a little worse for ware. A few more scars and bruises. Her hair was longer and her lack of training was evident. He prayed that wherever she'd been, they'd taken care of her. He couldn't even think of all the retched possibilities. Torture, Starvation.worse. But there she was innocently off to sleep. Even closed he could tell that her eyes were puffy, and that she'd been crying. He hoped to God that he wasn't the reason she was crying. But he knew. He knew what he had done to her. Every time he looked at the small golden band around his finger he had imagined. He had always imagined what would happen if Sydney ever.came back. He'd put himself there. Tried to pretend that it was him instead of her. What would he have done if she'd been married, to someone other than him? He knew how she must be feeling. He'd imagined it millions of times.  
  
He entered the room and closed the door behind him. She must have heard, because she stirred just a little. He noted how well trained she was. She opened her eyes first to, of course, assess the situation. Then she moved. She brought a hand to her face and rubbed her tired-swollen eyes. He was the reason she was crying. He had hurt her immeasurably. Him.  
  
"Hi." It wasn't much but at the moment it was all he could muster. He bit his tongue after saying "hi". What an insensitive jerk he was. "Hi I'm Michael can I stab you in the heart once again?".  
  
"Hi," She said, sitting up. He walked to the bed and sat down; not next to her but not far away.  
  
"Kendall would like to see you. He said the guys in psche. want to debrief you as well." He stared at his hands as he spoke.  
  
She watched him nervously fidget. It wasn't his normal behavior, but she was nervous around him as well, now.  
  
"Vaughn I've thought a lot about this.and I think that..I think that we should talk."  
  
"Sydney I don't think either of us is in the right state of mind to be discussing." He interrupted.  
  
"Let me finish." She interrupted. "We need to talk, but I need some time to .to get my life back in order. I need to be alone. It's too hard to try and. think around you."  
  
"I understand that, but Sydney I .. I still want to be there for you." He sighed. He spoke the words as if they had a hard time coming out of his mouth.  
  
She took a deep breath before speaking. "Vaughn.I need answers.I need to know about what happened while I've been gone." She stood up and walked a few steps from the bed. "I need to find my father, and maybe my mother. I need to see Will, and talk to him. I mean the last time I saw him he was lying in my bathtub. and I thought he was dead. Not to mention I killed..." It took a lot to restrain the tears. "I killed Francie, or who ever the hell she was. And I know a lot has happened since then; You're proof of that." She hadn't meant to say that. And it did indeed sound as bad as she was afraid it did. She hurt him she could she that. He was having the same battle with tears, that she was.  
  
He stood up to face her. "You're right Sydney a lot had happened while you were gone. but some things don't change.. I can't stand that you're alive and I can't celebrate it with you. I can't stand that you're in pain, and I know that I am to blame for some of that. But Sydney I .I can offer you my friendship. I.can tell you that when I thought you died, part of me died, and I don't know if that part of me will ever come back. Sydney I don't know if you'll believe me but I .for a long time I wouldn't believe that .that you weren't coming back. I just wouldn't believe it. But after a while parts of me started admitting that I would probably never see you again... I can't stand the thought of having you here, knowing that you're right here, and not being able to be with you."  
  
" What are you saying." She looked him directly in the eye.  
  
" I'm saying that two years ago I loved you more than my own life, and when I lost you I almost died. And things have happened. mistakes happen.but I still..I could never stop loving you Sydney." He reached out and pulled her close. So close he could feel her heartbeat inside his own chest. And he cried. They held each other and cried. In the last two years they had both lost everything they had ever know.  
  
Sydney felt as though a tidal wave had hit her as Vaughn held her in his arms. The entire emotional spectrum came down upon her all at once, as he pulled her into him embrace. She felt both anger and love in the same moment, both betrayed and a strange sort of salvation. He did still love her. But not enough to wait for her. He was here but not in the way she needed. She needed him to be her ally, her guardian angel, her lover, her Vaughn; not her friend, not someone else's Vaughn. She wasn't sure if she could handle having part of him but not all.  
  
It took all of her mental, emotional, and physical strength to push him away. She needed time to think, and his warm arms were too enticing. He looked hurt and puzzled when she stepped back. Tears still flowed continuously from both of their eyes. He moved to speak, but she quickly retreated to the bathroom. She didn't remember turning on the water or undressing, but soon enough she was in the shower. The cleansing water streaming down on her dizzied head. She felt in her heart that his intentions were good, but why was he trying so hard to make her miserable?  
  
She could have written a list of questions hundreds of miles long. But she couldn't organize her thoughts enough to write down any of them; much less figure out which one would be first. As she dressed, she prepared herself for her meeting with Kendall. Was he still the same unrelenting jerk she knew? Most likely, she assured herself. She exited her room to find Dixon waiting on the couch for her. He stood and smiled his reassuring-Dixon smile. She didn't say a word but listened to him tell her about her meeting with Kendall and Dr. Barnett. She only half listened knowing that she'd be escorted to wherever they wanted her, and told what to say, what to do and when she could let out a breath. She was too distracted. Not just by Vaughn but by everything. Too many questions were swirling around in her head. Finally one unanswered question made its way to the front.  
  
"Dixon.." She had cut him off mid-sentence. "You said you'd tell me about Will." She looked him right in the eye.  
  
He'd seen that look before. She meant business. "Sydney. Sit down." They did and he took a deep breath, and his sweet time, before answering. "The stab wound to his abdomen was severe. There was major organ tissue damage, and massive internal bleeding. He was in surgery for 16 hours, as I recall. I think Vaughn waited at the hospital for him the entire time. After that first surgery there were many more. Complications and such kept him in and out of the OR." He looked at Sydney to make sure she was with him. She was, so he went on. "His recovery was slow. But he finally cleared the worst of it about two weeks after .the incident." He sighed. "I know that the doctors were concerned about his brain. He'd been down for a long time before.. before Vaughn found him that night. They monitored his brain waves, and decided that he still had brain function. Eventually he was taken off of life support, but Syd.I'm sorry but as far as I know.. Will hasn't woken up."  
  
She closed her eyes. Even if she'd wanted to cry there were no more tears left in her body. "You mean he's in a coma?" 


	6. The Fifth Man

And there he was. Just like Dixon had said. She entered the small room. She noted how it didn't look like a hospital room. That was nice. It was a facility for long term coma patients. His family had obviously been there. The scent of fresh flowers filled the room. She walked around the bed and sat in the chair at the opposite side. She picked up his hand and began to cry.  
  
He didn't look like the Will she knew. When she looked at him she could tell that two years had passed. His skin was a shade of pale grey, and he was thin; much thinner that she remembered. His hand was dry, and totally lifeless. His entire body was lifeless, except for the rise and fall of his chest every once in a while. It was almost imperceptible at first. But as she sat there, his breathing became more and more reassuring. He was indeed alive.  
  
She carefully put his hand back in its place, and stood up. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I'll be back soon Will. You know I love you." She had to go. She had postponed seeing Kendall to come visit Will, and she couldn't put off the CIA forever. As she lifted her head she noticed that someone had entered the room. She looked up and saw him.  
  
"You know I heard that they can still hear you." His accent made his words bite more than he'd probably meant. He leaned back against the wall, by the door he had most certainly closed. His appearance was flawless, as it always had been. But now his blonde, boyish looks were masked by facial hair.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here Sark?" She hadn't moved since she saw him. She felt as if she was glued to the floor. This man was her enemy. She felt that in her bones.  
  
"I came to see you Sydney.." He walked a few step toward her.  
  
"What was so important that you had to interrupt this?" She glared at him. And then looked down at Will. She realized that she'd been nearly yelling, and was afraid she'd disturbed him.  
  
"Well Sydney rumors were, that you were alive. I came to investigate." He reached down to touch one of Will's flowers.  
  
"Who is it that you're working for now Sark. I don't even want to know how you got away from the CIA. But really who is so lucky to have your malleable alliance grace them?" She had a feeling she knew the answer. He had always worked for the biggest and baddest, and she was sure that he was still under Slone's thumb.  
  
"Why, our mother of course." He looked at her as if this revelation was nothing new. As if she shouldn't be shocked by his words.  
  
She almost fell over. He must be lying. Our mother. Irena is my mother. What the hell was Sark trying to pull.  
  
"Yeah, sis. Our mother. You didn't really think you could keep her all to yourself forever, now?"  
  
She was still reeling. Sark was her brother. This was just one more thing she didn't need to deal with.  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"I'm actually not certain of her location myself, at the moment. But knowing her, she'll make her self known when she's good and ready. I'm sure though that she'll be glad to know of you safety. She had been worried. " She turned to leave. "I will let her know you're alive though.."  
  
"What about my father?" She interrupted his cocky speech.  
  
"Oh that, well I'm sure mother will want to explain all about that. but for now I'm afraid I must depart. Until next time." He nodded and then left quickly and shut the door behind him. She was too weak to move to go after him. She sat back down in the chair by Will's bed. 


	7. Tests

It was already noon, and she wondered how long they planned to keep her. She'd been "talking" with Kendall for about forty-five minutes now. She wasn't really listening. He was just rambling on, in true Kendall form, about searching for her. Evidently he'd wanted to find her more then she'd expected. She was waiting for him to finish so she could jump through the CIA's many physical and mental "hoops". The tests were not hard just so damn long.  
  
"Sydney.."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
"These men will escort you to the different exams." He looked at her quizzically.  
  
"I don't need them, but thanks."  
  
"Now, Sydney you've been gone for a hell of a long time, and I don't know where you've been, what you've done, or who might want you back. Now I am not going to have you slip out from under my nose again. These agents will follow you wherever you go, but they're reasonably, they listen. So don't fight me on this one Agent Bristow." She opened the door and introduced her to Sam, Trey, and Wally. She couldn't have cared less.  
  
So they took her around, first the physical exam. Not something Sydney was looking forward to. The first part was like a regular doctor's exam. They took blood, chevked her blood pressure all that jazz. They said they'd have all the results in a few days, and that they would contact her. But the second part was the really stupid part. She had to run on a tred-mill, and fight a very well trained agent. It was CIA required stuff. They needed to know if she was field-ready, or what exactly she lost, or forgotten while out there somewhere. She noted how out of shape she was. She used to be able to run a mile at full sprint and be ready for more. Now she only barely made it trough the mile. She fought the agent and though she remembered all of her skills, she and lost much of her speed and agility. She hadn't noticed before what the two years had done to her physically. It hit her hard to realize she had been looking for the differences in everyone else. Everyone but herself. To her this was the proof. She'd been gone for two whole years, and now she was different. All this and she couldn't remember why.  
  
Next came hypnotherapy, and memory regression. This didn't take much. Sit in the chair follow instructions. It was easier than she'd expected. She was worried to go back to what had happened over the last two years but that didn't exactly happen. She didn't remember anything. Hypnosis was useless. Nothing was working to reveal what had happened. There was one thing the hypnosis revealed. She hadn't been in Hong Kong the entire time. She did remember being transported by plane. She was tied up with a black sac over her head. There were four men sitting all around her. They spoke in a language she had never heard before, and she didn't remember a word of it. Then she was put in a car, and dumped in Hong Kong. That was it. The doctor's said that she must have been reconditioned prior to being put into the plane. So she began to make the memories after the reconditioning. That made sense. But it wasn't a lot, hell it was nothing, to go on.  
  
Next she saw Dr. Barnett. She remembered her well. She'd talked to her a lot at the beginning of .well three years ago. So she sat down and they talked. They talked about the felling of losing everything from the last two years. About what had happened on the night she'd disappeared. They talked about her father and mother. Her newly acquired brother. Dixon, and Will. And Vaughn. They talked about Vaughn a lot. Sydney could tell that Barnett knew more than she was letting on about Vaughn. She wondered what more there was to tell. He was married. He didn't work for the CIA anymore. And he'd said he still loved her. That was the hard part. She still loved him as if it were "yesterday".  
  
When they were finished, they set a time to meet in a few days. To continue talking, of course. Then Dr. Barnett led the way out the door. When Barnett saw him stand she took a double take, and then looked at Sydney, who was now staring at Vaughn.  
  
"Hi.Kendall told me you'd be finishing and I thought I come see .you." He took a step closer to her and paused. She'd been crying.  
  
She smiled and turned to Dr. Barnett. "Thank you."  
  
Dr. Barnett looked her firmly in the eye. "We can talk longer if you want." She glanced at Vaughn and then resumed looking at Sydney.  
  
"No, thank you. I'll see you in a few days." She turned to walk down the hallway, away from Vaughn. The security agents followed.  
  
Barnett looked at Vaughn with a question on the tip of her tongue, he could feel it. He moved to follow Sydney before she could speak. "Sydney, wait up."  
  
She kept walking. "I don't want to talk to you right now."  
  
"I know that, I just thought." She stopped walking. And he found himself face to face with her. "I just wanted to show you something." She looked puzzled. "Please Sydney. Let me show you this. It's not far. You can leave anytime. I promise, please." He said all this without really rationalizing what he was doing. He pleaded with her, with the sad puppy dog eyes. He was serious. She was skeptical.  
  
"Alright."  
  
"Great, you won't regret it I promise." He led her and her security dogs down the hall and to the parking lot. There he opened the door to his car for Sydney and she accepted sitting down in the front seat. He got in and started driving. The security agents followed close behind.  
  
Fifteen minutes later they arrived at a nice suburban farm house. They both got out and Vaughn led the way to the front door. He opened the screen door and walked in.  
  
"Mom it's me" He yelled. Sydney was surprised she'd never met his mother. After a moment a short elderly lady came bustling out of the kitchen.  
  
"Oh Michael don't shout, he's sleeping." She said, and then looked to Sydney. "Oh, who's this."  
  
"Mother this is Sydney a .friend of mine." He said awkwardly. His mother reached out a hand to Sydney.  
  
"Oh dear it's so nice to meet you. I always enjoy meeting Michael's friends." She turned to Vaughn. "Now he's in the living room asleep. But you could wake him now."  
  
"Thanks mom.could you uh.give us a minute." He rubbed his neck and looked down at her. She was puzzled but obeyed.  
  
"Sure I'll just be in the kitchen making supper. You and Miss Sydney can stay if you like."  
  
"No thanks mom we have to go." She retreated to the kitchen and Vaughn led her into the living room. In the middle of the room was a porta-crib. And inside a little boy lay sleeping. Vaughn ever so delicately reached inside the crib and picked the boy up. The baby stirred and then woke up and rubbed his little hands against his eyes. He yawned and then looked around. He then looked at Vaughn and gurgled a little.  
  
Sydney stood in shock at the sight before her. Vaughn .the baby..what did this mean? Vaughn then turned to her and the little boy looked right at her.  
  
"Sydney I would like you to meet Caleb, my son." 


	8. Father

He had to go into CIA operations for a meeting with Kendall. He was dreading it, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was hoping to get a chance to see Sydney again. Alice was working so he was on his way to take Caleb to his mother's house. After dropping the baby off he headed to Ops. Once there he'd debriefed on his mission to Hong Kong to retrieve Sydney and then waited to talk to Kendall.  
  
"Michael Vaughn." Kendall's voice deliberately sounded condescending.  
  
"Assistant Director Kendall, nice to see you again."  
  
"Yes, well Vaughn you were a good agent I wish we were still seeing each other on a regular basis." He egged Vaughn on knowing that he'd never return to the CIA.  
  
"Are you ready to meet?"  
  
"Yes please come in." Kendall led the way into his spacious office, and offered Vaughn a chair.  
  
They talked about the "mission" to get Sydney from Hong Kong. Kendall kept rambling on about their fruitless search efforts. How he couldn't believe that they. he hadn't found her. He'd obviously given up hope long ago, that she was still alive.  
  
"Well Vaughn, thank you for your help on this one. I know it was good for Sydney to have you there in Hong Kong. I know it must have been difficult for you.. and all. Thank you for meeting with me, I hope we'll see you around here soon."  
  
The two men stood up and shock hands over the desk. Vaughn said goodbye and opened the door to leave when Kendall caught him off-guard.  
  
"Vaughn, Sydney's talking with Dr. Barnett right now, but she should be done here any minute."  
  
Vaughn shut the door behind him, and stopped before going any further. Without thinking he found his way to Dr. Barnett's office and sat down in the chair across the hall from her door. From there he could hear faint sounds of a conversation. He checked his watch. He'd told his mother he'd pick Caleb up before four, but it was already quarter 'till, and he would be late if he left now anyway. As the hour drew near three security agents made their way to the door to the office. They had been sitting just a few feet away but obviously were ready to escort Sydney from her appointment. Then she came out.  
  
Now they sat in Vaughn's mother's living room. He'd agreed to explain. She'd agreed not to interrupt.  
  
He started at the beginning.  
  
There was a time when he thought that it would be easier believing she was dead. It was less difficult to believe that. Better, at least, than having to accept that he wasn't able to find her. Easier than admitting that he had failed her. There were two options: either she was dead, or she didn't want him to find her. That was the only way he could rationalize it. And now that she was dead, he could mourn. Well, not really. He tried to mourn but in doing so all of his rationalizing went down the toilet. He couldn't mourn her. Not while he was still dreaming about her slipping into his bed one night, secretly coming home to him. He had dreams about her for a long time after she was gone. Not always good, but always about her. Many times he'd woken in a hot sweat after dreaming about unknown kidnappers torturing her. Other times he'd woken smiling and then reached to her side of the bed, only to find it cold.  
  
After he'd left the CIA he'd not been able to sleep. He couldn't stand the dreams. It all just hurt too much. But the alcohol helped. He didn't dream when he was passed out. He'd tried pot, and some more potent stuff, but the narcotics made him see her during the day. So it was the alcohol. For weeks he didn't eat, or see anyone. He went out to buy booze, and drank it. And then came the day when it was all just too much. This day he woke up totally sober, and there wasn't a drop of alcohol to be found in the house. He went to the store but it was too early. He stalked home and opened the pantry: empty. Fridge: empty. Cabinet: bottle of Alieve. So he took it. The entire bottle. After that the only thing he could remember was sitting down to watch The Simpsons.  
  
Then he woke up in the hospital. Apparently his mother had decided to pay him an unexpected visit, and had found him on the sofa, in a pile of his own vomit. He didn't have very many visitors in the hospital. The doctor came often though, most of the time badgering him about his liver. Evidently all the booze had really messed it up, and he needed to be careful. His mother came often. Weiss came too, and a few other co-workers. Then one day out of the blue Alice came to visit him. She had said that his mother had called her. She was happy to see he was alright. He'd joked about her always being there when he was in the hospital. But that reminded him of 'her' so he'd asked Alice to leave.  
  
After his recovery, they'd met for coffee a few times. It was comforting for him to go back into the life he had before 'her'. Alice never asked about any of it. Never once had she asked why he took the pills, or stopped working. She was nice that way, never too many questions. And one day he'd taken her home, and they'd had sex, and he'd hated it the entire time. It wasn't "making love" it was more like something to do. Afterward he felt like he'd betrayed 'her'. He couldn't bare the thought of having to explain it, if she ever came back. It was mean of him, but he didn't call. She did instead. She called to tell him that she was pregnant. He was shocked to get the call two months after their one night together. He wasn't going to leave her hanging this time, though. He began seeing her again, seriously. And within a month they decided to get married. She loved him, and she knew he didn't feel the same.  
  
And so that was how it happened. Not six months after 'she' had disappeared, he was married, and had a baby on the way. And now two years late, he was married to a woman he didn't love, he worked in a job that he despised, and he had just had his world shattered. He did, however, have one thing in his life that he valued. Caleb, was the only thing he lived for now. He was almost one now, and he was Vaughn's pride and joy. That little man was the reason for the gold band, and the reason for all the pain 'she' was going through. No, he was. Michael Vaughn, had hurt Sydney, not Caleb.  
  
He wondered if he would ever be able to introduce Caleb to Sydney. He would like her, no doubt. She would have been a wonderful mother. But he couldn't think about that right now. He had to focus on Caleb. He was the most important thing in the world.  
  
So now there was another thing in this world, that to him, was equally important to Caleb. She was here now. He couldn't pretend like that didn't mean all that it did.  
  
There she was sitting across the room on an opposite couch. Caleb played on a blanket in between them. Vaughn sat on the floor next top him, leaning back against the couch. Every once in a while Vaughn had interrupted his story to reposition Caleb on the blanket. As he did this she noticed how gentle he was with Caleb. He was talking about tying to commit suicide, and he ever so gently picked up Caleb, careful to support his head, and put him back down by his toys. He was a great father. 


	9. Son

She sat there. Balled up on the couch in his mother's living room, listening to him recount his ordeal. She hadn't previously had time to take in to account what must have happened for him when she disappeared. She wasn't sure how she felt to know that he had never loved Alice. She was both happy for herself and sad for him at the same time. It was less than two years after Danny died that she had found love again. She couldn't expect him to act any differently. Why was she? When she thought about it she was sort of sad that he had not found love. This, of course, was all coming from a totally objective point of view. But from her point of view it was all too much. She was glad to know he didn't love Alice, and that he still loved her. She was happy to know that he'd married Alice because of Caleb, and one colossal mistake. But this didn't stop her from feeling betrayed. abandoned.  
  
She watched further, as Vaughn fed Caleb a bottle. He was a CIA agent trained to kill with his bare hands. Yet, he was a gentle as a rose when he touched Caleb. When he looked at his son he had nothing but joy, and an awe- struck look in his eyes. When he looked at her all she could see was regret and despair. She wondered how she looked at him. Could he see in her eyes how much she needed him? Could he see her pain?  
  
Then it hit her.. Would he leave Alice for her? Would she, herself, want him too? She wasn't about to ask that of him. but did he want to? The way he spoke about their marriage, was as if it was a business agreement. Could he walk away from that? She knew he would never leave Caleb, and she would never want him to do that. But if they had married for his sake, would he leaver Alice, for her?  
  
"Sydney tell me what you're thinking." He looked up at her with a longing in his eyes.  
  
"I'm just trying to take this all in, that's all. I mean you have a son." She reached to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "You're married." She sighed.  
  
"Yes. And Sydney I don't know what to do. I have. responsibilities, obligations, now. I know that I can't just forget that but it's hard." He looked down at his son who had fallen asleep in his arms.  
  
"What are you saying Vaughn." She tried hard to tell him with her eyes what she was feeling, but she didn't know how, or what she wanted to tell him even.  
  
"I'm saying that .things are different now that you're back. I guess I'm saying that I'm tired of being miserable. I love Caleb more than anything. but I can't do this anymore." He stood up and carefully made his way to the couch that Sydney sat on. He sat down next to her. She uncurled a little, so that she could lean over and look at Caleb. He was so peaceful, lying there in the protection of his father's arms. She knew that feeling. Complete, unfettered happiness. No worries, no doubts, just warm, protected contentment.  
  
"I can't lie to Alice, or myself anymore. And I won't lie to you. I love you Sydney. I lost two years with you and I won't waste another second, when it is possible for us to be together." He looked at her. She had a single tear running down her check. At that moment he stopped looking at her with his eyes filled with regret and despair. Instead he looked at her with love, and hope, and somehow a concealed happiness. And she looked back at him with the same love, hope, and a sort of glad anticipation. Caleb's cries broke their intense gazing session, and Vaughn looked down at his son.  
  
"I don't think he likes what I just said." He laughed a little. Sydney smiled and looked at the crying baby. "Would you like to hold him?" He looked up at her.  
  
She was surprised at his offer, but excited as well. She nodded and smiled the way she hadn't smiled a long time. He passed Caleb into her open arms and she brought him to her shoulder and rocked him. Vaughn watched in awe as the love of his life held his child and rocked him. The two most precious things in the world to him were right in front of him. He had though that this moment would never be possible, but it was happening right here, right now. He smiled and let out the breath he'd been holding. With it came so much of the emotion he'd been holding in. He was overwhelmed by the sight before him, and cried bitter tears of happiness.  
  
His mother stood in the doorway which led from the kitchen into the living room, and watched. She watched her son look at the woman before him, he actually saw her. He never looked at his wife that way. A mother notices these things. He loved this woman. She had already known that he loved his son more than anything, and she'd know that he didn't love the mother of his child. But she could tell that he loved this woman, and that she loved him back. It was written all over them. She smiled to see her son as happy as he was, sitting there watching his child and the woman he loved. She knew he would do the right thing. He always did. But she prayed that this time he would do the right thing for him. She prayed that for once he would make Michael happy, before everyone else. She liked this woman. She made her son happy. That was all that mattered in the world. 


	10. Healing

She was exhausted. The day of tests, and explanations, had worn her out. After Vaughn's story about her disappearance and Caleb, they had all gotten in the car. Vaughn carefully put his son in the car seat and began driving toward the safe house. Sydney was amazed that she hadn't noticed the car seat before. It wasn't like her to be so distracted that she didn't take note of her surroundings But Vaughn had always done that to her. When she was with him she felt safe, she didn't have to worry constantly.  
  
He had just merged onto the freeway, when his cell phone rang. "Hello.yes..I'll be home in a half hour..alright.okay yeah..bye." They were both silent after the conversation.  
  
The arrived at the safe house and Caleb was asleep in the back seat. Sydney and Vaughn exited the car at the same time.  
  
"It's alright you don't have to come in." She assured him.  
  
"No, I want to." He asked Wally to watch Caleb for a few minutes and then followed Sydney into the house. She nodded at the agent sitting on the couch and then walked into her room. Vaughn followed.  
  
"If you want I can stay for a while." He said, wanting more to stay than to go "home".  
  
"No you can't." She looked at him and sat down on the bed. "Take your son home Vaughn." She pulled off her sweatshirt and pulled back the covers. "I'm just going to sleep anyway."  
  
"You must be exhausted." He closed the curtains, and walked to the bed. After she had slipped under the covers he sat down. She rolled onto her side and settled in. He looked down at her and reached his hand out to put a stray piece of hair behind her ear. He let his hand linger on her face, and she closed her eyes as he touched her. She wanted him to stay and hold her until she fell asleep. She wanted him to stay forever. He wanted both of those things as well, but the child in the car was keeping him in check. He stroked her check a final time and then reached to shut off the lamp. She didn't move, not wanting to see him leave. She felt him lean forward and then place the softest kiss on her forehead. Then he was gone.  
  
She wasn't sure how long she'd slept before she was interrupted.  
  
"Miss Bristow, I'm sorry, there's an urgent call for you. There a phone on the table." He closed the door.  
  
She fumbled in the dark to retrieve the phone and almost knocked it off the table when she found it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Agent Bristow, it's Dr. Morgan at the lab, we need you to come back in for a few tests."  
  
"Tonight?"  
  
"Um well..this morning."  
  
"Okay I'll come right in." She hung up the phone, and looked at the time on the clock-radio. It was nine am. She rubbed her eyes, pulled back the covers, and slowly made her way to the bathroom.  
  
Ten minutes later she was in the car on the way to "the lab". She wasn't really sure where that was but Wally drove. They arrived shortly thereafter, and it wasn't long before the doctor was taking more blood.  
  
"What is it you're looking for Dr." She asked as politely as she could.  
  
"Well I'm not certain. We found some abnormalities in some of the blood test we did yesterday and wanted to confirm the results."  
  
"What kind of abnormalities."  
  
"Well, nothing really, just a few mutated cells."  
  
"That doesn't sound like nothing."  
  
"Well that's what we're going to try and figure out today. The cells don't appear to be doing damage, they just weren't there before."  
  
"How did these cells mutate."  
  
"It could be the result of several different kinds of radiation. But to tell you the truth I've never seen this exact kind to mutation before so I can't say yet. Alright, all done here. But there is just one more thing we need from you Ms. Bristow."  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"A full body scan."  
  
"How long will that take?"  
  
"A few hours max."  
  
"Great."  
  
So there she was lying in a life size tube thing, and listening to the best of Jimmy Buffet. Apparently the nurses were infatuated with him. She wasn't sure how long she'd been in the body scan, but considering the number of songs she gone through it must have been at least two hours. A slight breeze flowed through the cylinder and she shivered a little. Finally the music turned off and the nurse came to tell her that it was done. Thirty minutes later she was fully clothed and waiting in the Doctor's office. He finally appeared and sat down behind his desk.  
  
"I'm sorry that we weren't able to finish these tests up yester day Ms. Bristow."  
  
"What did you find?"  
  
"It will still take a few days to fully read the results of the scan, but I had time to run another test on the mutated cells in your blood..it appears that you were exposed to some form of radioactive material. It is not affecting any of your vital systems, actually it doesn't appear to have a affected anything but your white blood cells."  
  
"And.."  
  
"It appears that these mutated white blood cells are enhanced in some way."  
  
"Meaning."  
  
"Meaning they are much more efficient at fighting infection."  
  
"So I'm less likely to get sick?"  
  
"Well you're less likely to get sick, but you're also able to heal much faster than you were before."  
  
"So that's a good thing right?"  
  
"It appears so. But we are still working on figuring out how these cells mutated in this fashion, in the first place. I'll call you when we get the results back. As for now, I am claiming you fit for duty, after a little training."  
  
"Thanks." She got up to leave.  
  
"Oh, Ms. Bristow, one more thing."  
  
She paused and stood looking at him.  
  
"Before your disappearance. Were you in an intimate relationship with anyone?" The question obviously left her dumbfounded. "I don't need to know who, just yes or no."  
  
She looked at his quizzically and then nodded in the affirmative.  
  
"Thank you Ms. Bristow, I'll be contacting you soon." 


	11. Little Brother

"Ah Agent Bristow, come in." He stood as she approached his desk. "Take a seat. I was hoping we could talk a little more. This time about your future here."  
  
She watched his sit down. The same look was there that Kendall always had on his face.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean I've been assuming that it is your intention to return to active duty here. Is that correct?"  
  
"I haven't had much time to think about that."  
  
"That's fine. Take some time and decide. If you do wish to continue here, which I hope you do, you'll need to go through some re-training, and field assessment. You know, the standard stuff. But if you are in any way thinking of leaving I would like to try and persuade you not to. I know I can be.. well maybe a little to harsh, but I want you to know what an excellent Agent you've been. Now I don't praise people often, but Sydney you are the best damn field agent I've seen in a very long time, and the CIA would sorely miss you if you decide not to return. On the other hand Sydney, I've seen .well I understand that you need some time to figure things out in your personal life. God knows where your parents are and all. But consider your options Sydney. The CIA might be able to help you find a lot more answers than you could on your own."  
  
She'd been staring at her hands the entire time he was talking. She was actually listening this time. He was right she needed time to think. And she needed time to put the pieces of her life together. But he was also right in that if she was going to put this puzzle together should would need the CIA's resources. But she'd wanted to leave the CIA for a long time now, and one thing or another had always kept her here. Was this just another one of those things? If she stayed now would she ever get out? More questions no answers.  
  
The phone rang interrupting her train of thought.  
  
"Hello, yes.where? Yes .thank you." He hung up the phone. "Well Sydney, I think you'll want to hear this. Your brother.Sark has been spotted outside LA. It appears that he is trying to stir up some information about the whereabouts of your parents."  
  
"You know that Sark is my brother?"  
  
"Yes, we found out about a year after you left. We were doing DNA tests on .well we figured it out."  
  
"Wait, how old is he, when was he born?"  
  
"He's approximately seven years younger than you Sydney."  
  
"So my mother was pregnant when she left my father and me?"  
  
"It appears that that is the case. Sydney I wouldn't ordinarily do this but under the circumstances.I want to give you the opportunity to go after Sark. If you want to that is?"  
  
"Yes, of course, but I'm not cleared yet."  
  
"I know, I'm making an exception. I want to find your father as much as you do Sydney." She seriously doubted it. "I'm going to assign Dixon to accompany you to bring Sark in."  
  
"Do you think bringing him here is the best plan? I mean he already escaped once."  
  
"Sydney Sark didn't escape, we let him go."  
  
"What .why?"  
  
"At the time we were looking for you, and he had intel. it doesn't matter. I don't mean bring Sark here, but meet with him and get whatever intel you can from him. Trust me he's more useful to us in the field looking for your parents than sitting here in a cell. Go see Marshall, he'll outfit you."  
  
"Okay."  
  
She left his office in a daze. She really hadn't thought about her brother much since his surprise visit to Will's room. She was so busy contemplating all that Kendall had just said that she almost ran right into Marshall.  
  
"Oh sorry.oh, Sydney. Agent Bristow." He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.  
  
"Hi Marshall."  
  
"Hi.. I mean I'm glad to see you. They told be that you were found and everything. I mean you've been gone for such a long time, I didn't. Have you let your hair grow out?"  
  
"I need a car and tech."  
  
"I know um. here's weapons, and standard security cover..um Oh Dixon good I was just telling Sydney that.. well I hadn't actually started telling her yet. but um these are the keys to the new and improved Marshall Mobile.well It's not actually called that but I though it sounded good.so..anyway. inside you'll find, besides the regular luxury loadedness..um. a brand spanking new surveillance system. From inside this baby you'll be able to hear inside building, tape conversations, and take streaming digital video, without leaving the air conditioned haven of the Marshall Mobile." 


	12. Labyrinth

"I think that's him." Dixon said, zooming in on the blonde figure exiting the building. Marshal had been right, the car he'd retrofitted had amazing capabilities. There was a 8 x 12 high definition screen sitting on the front dash, which connected to the many surveillance devices the car was equipped with.  
  
"Yes that's definitely Sark," Sydney sighed. She wasn't fully sure that she wanted to come face to face with him again. Well at least this soon after learning that he was her brother.  
  
"How do you want to play this Sydney?"  
  
"Well I don't want to blow his cover.I'll go in." She said grabbing the bag Marshall had given her. In it was a blonde wig, a large pink jacket and a bag of make-up. She quickly got ready and Dixon drove toward the warehouse where Sark was waiting outside. Sydney got out of the car and Dixon sped off. With the technology in this car, it wasn't necessary for him to remain close to the warehouse, in order to know exactly what was going on.  
  
"Well.it took you longer than I'd expected..and that's a rather nice outfit." He was amused by her disguise for some reason.  
  
"Well are we going to stand outside all day or can we talk?"  
  
"We can talk." He said as he began walking toward the entrance to the warehouse. "But first I think I should show you this." He kept walking, and Sydney followed in silence. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but now wasn't the time.  
  
She followed him through the large main room of the warehouse and to an office in the back. He opened the door for her and then went to the desk which sat in the corner. Sydney watched as he opened a drawer and flipped a switch. The switch evidently activated a door in the ground against the far wall. A large stairwell opened and Sark began to descend without a word. She followed him. At the bottom of the stairs a large hall began to appear. It seemed to lead on forever. As Sark led the way down the hall, Sydney noticed that the floor sloped down. As time passed she wondered if Dixon was still able to get a signal from this deep underground. Sark stopped eventually, though the hallway appeared to keep descending. He turned down another long dark passage way, but this time only went about ten feet before stopping. The passageway was almost pitch black, except for the little bit of light from the adjoining hallway.  
  
"Oh bloody hell, I can never find this switch." He said as he felt the wall to his right. Finally he smiled, evidently finding the switch, which glowed green. It looked just like an elevator button, and sure enough a few seconds later two doors opened up and Sark led the way onto an elevator. There were no buttons on the inside of this elevator, but it began to descend as soon as the door closed.  
  
"Where are we going?" Sydney was tired of blindly following her brother through this maze.  
  
"You'll see soon enough."  
  
"Now that we're.well siblings, would you mind telling me you're real name, or would you prefer that I call you Sark, brother?" She was tired of this whole charade.  
  
"My name." He chuckled a little. "Well dear sister I do believe that the name Sark would do for all appropriate purposes. But in the name of trust I do suppose that it is fitting I tell you." He looked at her in the dim light of the elevator. It had been descending for over a minute now. "My real name is Damien." He said this as the elevator stopped, and opened it's doors.  
  
Sark.or Damien, led the way out of the elevator and down another long, dark tunnel.  
  
"Where are we?" Sydney said with more than just a hint of exasperation in her voice.  
  
"We're directly under the warehouse we were in before."  
  
"How far under, brother dearest." As soon as she said that he stopped walking and turned around to face her.  
  
"If you're trying to contact you're partner, it won't work. We're over 200 feet under ground measures have been taken to assure that no signals of any kind can travel in or out of this area."  
  
"How did you know I was trying to contact anyone?" She asked, surprised that he'd picked up her code-word.  
  
"Brother dearest is not in your normal vocabulary." He began walking again. He was been right. She had been hoping that Dixon would contact her but he hadn't. So she tried using their code word to get him to begin transmitting a radio signal, but it hadn't worked.  
  
"Ah, here we are." He opened a door at the end of the hallway. It was marked 47. They entered the dark room, which Sydney could tell was small just from the feel of it. Sark turned on the lights, and led the way across the room to another door at the far side. He turned to her before opening it. "Are you sure you're ready."  
  
"You waited until we were all the way down here before asking that. Let's go."  
  
He pulled a key from his pocket and inserted it into the knob of the door, turned in and opened the door. This room was much bigger, and was well lit. The entrance they had passed through was in the corner and as the stepped through it Sydney could see the entire expanse of the room. It must have been just as big as the warehouse they had entered in the first place. The ceiling was at lest three stories high and it must have been three hundred feet across. It was lit by florescent lights, which shone with a sort of blue haze. Finally movement across the room caused Sydney's eyes to focus on the far corner. Sark began leading the way toward that corner.  
  
As they neared the other side Sydney could make out the identity of one of the three figures sitting at a table. It was her father. Sark maintained his pace walking nonchalantly, and Sydney began to pick up speed. She watched her father stand up, and this caused her to break out into an all out run. She ran right into him, and almost knocked him over. They hugged intensely for several minutes before either spoke.  
  
"Dad I."She could express how wonderful she was feeling.  
  
"Sydney I'm sorry for all of the secrecy, but .we had to make sure Slone wasn't still watching you." Just then her mother stepped forward, and smiled at her daughter. 


	13. Mouse Trap

"Mom?" Sydney reluctantly let go of her father and stared at the woman standing before her.  
  
"Yes, Sydney. I'm so glad to see you're alright." She stepped forward awkwardly, unsure weather she should reach out to her daughter. Sydney was not unsure. She boldly stepped forward and embraced her mother. It had been too long, and too difficult, not to take the chance to hug her mother now. Jack watched, sighing. He wasn't truly sure of his feelings. A lot had happened since Sydney's disappearance, and much of it he wasn't sure he could tell his daughter.  
  
"Sydney, do you remember anything from the time you were missing, anything at all?" Her father asked, as her mother loosened her hold on her, but still held her by her shoulders.  
  
"No, I don't." She looked at her father. "I can't remember one thing. And all the regression therapy had shown is what I remember from after my memory was tampered with."  
  
"And what is that?" Her mother asked.  
  
"Well, I remember being transported, but I was still semi-unconscious. There were at least three men with me; we were on a plane; they spoke a language I didn't recognize. Then they carried me off the plane and into a car, and dropped me where I woke up. That's it." She couldn't read her father's expression. Well, she barely ever could so it wasn't really a surprise.  
  
"Sydney, I'm sorry you had to go through all of this." Her father stepped forward and embraced her once again. This time Irena stood and watched. Usually their family was so cold, so disconnected. But here they were, all of them, and they were truly a family. She realized that Sydney must have found out about her brother. It hurt Irena that she'd had to lie to Sydney, and to Jack for so long. But it was the story of her life. Nothing was real, everything was a lie. But not the love for her family. Her love for her children was never a lie. And her love for Jack, well that had not been a lie twenty years ago. No, she loved them all very much, she'd given up everything for the three people in this room with her; she just wished she could have done more to keep them from pain. Instead she had only caused them all so much more.  
  
"Dad, where did you go after I disappeared? What have you found out about my disappearance? Tell me you have some answers, because I sure as hell have a ton of questions." She looked at her father. She peered deep into his eyes. She wanted to make sure he told her the truth. She could tell when he lied. It was the whole Santa Clause thing, and she wasn't about to go through that again.  
  
"Sydney there are a lot of things that I need to tell you, that we need to tell you." He looked at Irena. "But first there are some very important issues we need to deal with."  
  
"What do you mean." She looked at her mother, and then her father. She felt like a child seeking answers that she wasn't ready for.  
  
"Sydney, we are still very uncertain of all that's happened to you over the last two years. We are not even sure who was holding you. What we are sure of is that Arvin Slone and his men are following you're every move. We will deal with him, and the others, later, but for now we need to ensure your safety above all else." Her mother spoke bluntly, and honestly, as far as Sydney could tell.  
  
"Do you think that Slone was the one who. was he the one who took me?"  
  
"We're not sure Sydney, but right now we need to know why he is following you, and make sure that he's not planning to take you again." Her father said as he led the way toward a table in the corner of the room. Sydney marveled at the way her father and mother were working together. Her father wasn't giving her mother any suspicious glares, or second guessing every word she said, like he used to do. He nodded in agreement when she spoke, and only added to her comments. They were working as equals, as partner, and this told Sydney much more about their relationship, than either one of them was willing to let on.  
  
"Damien, please explain to Sydney what you've seen in your surveillance." Her mother's use of his name brought Sydney back to the present. She had not fully thought about what it meant that her father and mother were there, along with her, and her brother. She didn't have any more time to contemplate this before Sark began to speak.  
  
"Sydney, for the last six months I have been following Mr. Arvin Slone around the globe. He has changed locations every four days since I started to trail him. There was no evidence that you were with him, at all. However his globe trotting did seem quite odd. In all the time I followed him he did not go to the same location twice. He did, however only travel to large cities of villages, and not into the wild or anything like that. I have to assume of course that this has something to do with Ramballdi, but I have as yet been unable to figure out what exactly this is. After you made contact with the CIA from Hong Kong, I began following you instead of Sloane. We of course wanted to ensure your safety. I then lost track of Slone after I left him in Helsinki. However in LA I discovered several of his agents surveilling your safe-house. What this means I am again quite unsure. But these agents have, very covertly I might add, followed you everywhere you've gone; From the safe-house, to a Mrs. Charles Vaughn's house, and so on and so forth. I am very sorry that I was unable to apologize for intruding on your time with Will, however I was afraid that Slone's agents were up to something, and decided to make my presence known to them."  
  
"Sydney, for some reason these agent's were sent here by Slone to watch you. I have exhausted my resources in trying to find out why, but no intel on this matter has surfaced, and I'm afraid that the reasoning behind this will have to remain a mystery. However, I would like to get rid of these agents once and for all. If Slone wants to watch you, then he can show up and do it himself." Her father spit out the last bit, as if it was hurting his mouth.  
  
"Sydney, we need you to lure these agents to secure location, where they can be questioned and neutralized. However, you will have to do this alone, and you will have lose your security detail." Her mother said very matter- of -factly.  
  
Her father waved her forward to the table and pointed a spot on the map. "Here is where we will have you lure the agents to. They have almost always maintained a distance of one hundred meters from you, so you will need to drive to the very edge of thisfield." They had chosen a very large deserted field about twenty miles outside of LA. "The surveillance team should remain in the cover of these trees when you drive out on to the field. Once the team is in position we'll take them out and bring them here from questioning."  
  
"Is it just going to be us, or will we have a team?" Sydney was worried that the four of them might not be able to handle Slone's team.  
  
"We will have to additional agents with us, which will make it a one to one ratio. On my signal you can drive back across the field and help us to transport the team back here." Her father traced the route with his finger, and Sydney studied it closely. "There is a hidden-underground entrance to this hangar from above. It uses a very large lift pad, which was once used to hide airplanes in this hangar." Her father explained as he opened another map. This one was more of an aerial picture of the warehouse above ground. He pointed to a spot on the picture just slightly to the northwest of the warehouse. "This is where the lift-pad is. It is just like an elevator. We enter the pad from the western most side, and then drive straight onto the lift, and in will bring us down here through that," he pointed to the opposite wall, "entrance. It this clear." He looked up at his daughter.  
  
"Yes." She said not taking her eyes off the maps. She was worried by the amount of time it was taking her memorize the information. It used to take her only a few seconds to memorize every detail of a map this size, but she had to blame this on being out of practice.  
  
"Sydney are you sure you are up for this?" Her mother asked, with more that just a hint of worry in her voice.  
  
"Yes. I'll be fine. When is all this set to go?"  
  
"Tomorrow, at three o'clock be at the gas station off of exit 116 on 1-80. Once you are there I will use aerial surveillance to make sure the team is still following you, and you will proceed to the op. location."  
  
She nodded. She was about to speak when her father handed her a set of keys. "These are for you. It's parked outside the safe-house. You can use this," he handed her a vile, "to knock out your security detail, and this is set only to connect to the phone's each one of us carries." She took the keys, phone and the vile and pocketed them. As she did this Sark turned and walked toward the wall adjacent to the table.  
  
"Time's up," he said walking back toward them. "Agent Dixon has made his way into the warehouse, and is apparently searching from Sydney. I assume this means more agents are on the way." He said bluntly.  
  
"Alright, take Sydney back upstairs, quickly. Sydney tell Dixon that you were hit from behind, and knocked out for a while. Go!" 


	14. Messages

"Base this is Brother, do you copy?"  
  
"We copy Brother, what is your status?"  
  
"Abort recovery team. Sister and I are headed back to base as we speak."  
  
Sydney was driving, as Dixon radioed to tell Operations that she was okay.  
  
"You gave us quite a scare Sister, see you back home."  
  
Sark or Damien, had led her back up to the warehouse, and she had positioned herself in the office, where Dixon could find her. He looked so relieved when she "woke up" after being knocked out by her brother. Luckily he'd believed her and they decided to head back to Operations. Sark had been right, Dixon had wired for back-up before coming in after her.  
  
As she drove, she worked out her story in her head. She would tell Kendall that Sark was about to tell her more about her father's whereabouts when his phone had rang. He'd handed her a cell phone and then apologized to her and said he had to go. Then he hit her on the back of the head, and that was it. It was a good story, not too many holes.  
  
They arrived back at Operations a short while later. Kendall was furious.  
  
"Agent Bristow, I want you to know that I almost had a heart attack while trying to think up an excuse to give to your father. I wasn't really sure how to explain to him that I had had his daughter, but then lost her again."  
  
"She was overpowered by Sark, there was nothing she could have done. But he did give her a phone." Dixon said coming to her defense.  
  
"A phone?" Kendall was not amused.  
  
"Yes, I assume he is going to call me on it when he wants to meet again. He had obviously wanted us to know where he was. He acted like I'd been sent an invitation. I'm sure he'll contact me soon." As Sydney explained the muscles in Kendall's face relaxed, a little.  
  
"Agent Bristow in my office in five minutes." He stalked off. He'd obviously been a little more shaken by her disappearance, than he'd let on.  
  
After unloading her gear with Marshall she headed to Kendall's office. She walked straight in without knocking and sat down.  
  
"Sydney, I think you should take some time for yourself, before returning for some more training." He was leaning back in his chair, and looked to be in deep thought.  
  
"Sir, I would rather resume training right away. I have nothing else to do...I." She stopped, she wasn't sure what she meant. She wasn't sure she wanted to return to the CIA. She knew that her mother and father were alright, and they were helping her find out about her disappearance. Did she really need to have her life run by the CIA anymore?  
  
"I understand that Sydney, but you obviously aren't ready either physically or mentally to return to the field, and I believe you need some time away. Now, I'm not ordering you to do this, but it isn't a request either; take some time. I don't even care how much time, just use it to recuperate, and get beck to being my best agent."  
  
She stood up, and nodded in agreement. She then walked out of his office and out of CIA operations without a word or acknowledgement to anyone. She did need the time. She had no place to live, and no ..well she didn't have anything.  
  
She had her security detail drive her to the safe-house. Wally had been stationed there for the day, and told her she had a message waiting on the machine in her room. She walked into her room and sat down on the bed. The little red light on the answering machine was flashing and she reached over and hit the play button.  
  
"You have three new messages....First message.Hi Sydney, it's me. I don't know if I got the number right, but I'm hoping you're getting this. I was hoping that you and I could have lunch today. I have Caleb, so I was thinking a hotdog at the park or something. Well when you get this call me back. Um.well..bye. End of message. Next message..Agent Bristow this is Dr. Morgan. I need you to come back to the lab. I don't want to scare you but the sooner the better. I want to get everything squared away. Anyway my number is 555-8493, call me anytime day or night. Thanks, Bye. End of message. Next message. Agent Bristow it's Dr. Barnett. I just wanted to remind you about our session tomorrow at three. I know that the regression therapist, Dr. James was also wanting to talk to you so maybe you could come early, say one thirty. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye. End of messages." 


	15. Security

Sydney tried in vain to prioritize the information she'd just received. Vaughn, Morgan, Barnett. She reached for the phone, and dialed the number she knew by heart. As it began to ring she wondered if it was the right number, hoping that he hadn't changed it.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Vaughn, it's me. I'm sorry I didn't call back sooner, I was at operations with Kendall."  
  
"That's fine. I guess you aren't up for a hot dog then."  
  
"Well actually I'm quite hungry."  
  
"Great, do you want me to pick you up?"  
  
"No.well actually yeah, would you?"  
  
"Sure, it's no problem. I'll be there in twenty minutes."  
  
"Great I'll see you then."  
  
"Great."  
  
Sydney sighed as she hung up the phone. It was so strange to think about arranging to meet Vaughn. Since she had woken up in Hong Kong her view of him had changed so much. First it was the same as she remembered. Vaughn her boyfriend, handler, partner, ally. Then, Vaughn the bringer of bad news, and then worse news. Then Vaughn the man who betrayed her, and hurt her. And then Vaughn the man who still loves her, and wants to give up his life to be with her. It was a whirlwind of emotions, and it was only within a span of a few days.  
  
Sydney suddenly realized that she had an appointment scheduled when she was supposed to be ..on a "mission" with her ."family". She quickly called Dr. Morgan.  
  
He sounded very anxious on the phone. "Sydney, oh I'm so glad you called. I need to see you right away.. "You can't tomorrow, what about the following day...alright that sounds good..okay I'll see you then.."She hung up the phone. She was shaken by his urgency, he sounded worried. But she couldn't focus on that right now. She dialed the number Dr. Barnett had given her. Barnett was reluctant but rescheduled their appointment for Thursday as well, along with a hypno-therapy session. Sydney wasn't very happy about Barnett's insistence that she see Dr. James again, but she'd agreed.  
  
After her flurry of phone calls, Sydney went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She then went into the living room and told Wally about her plans.  
  
"Umm.Agent Bristow, I was just informed by Kendall that if you aren't in need of our service. than we can leave you.alone. But he said it was up to you, if you still feel you need a security detail that's totally fine.."  
  
"No, thank you, I'll be fine. Did he mean that I could stay here?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am he said you were supposed to stay here as long as you needed to. Oh, and he said to leave you one of the company cars." Wally reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He reached out to hand them to her. He looked so cute as he tried to explain Kendall's instructions. He was a Security Agent, he obviously wasn't very good with people.  
  
"Thank you Wally, but I have a car, and I will no longer be in need of a security detail. Thank you." She tried to sound as polite as possible. She felt like she was firing the three guys.  
  
"Alright ma'am, we'll be packed up and out of here in no time." He smiled at her and then went to tell his fellow agents. Just then Sydney heard a car door close, and saw Vaughn walking up to the front door. It was late- after noon, and though it wasn't dark out, the coloring in the sky behind Vaughn was changing into different shades of purple, and blue.  
  
"Hey," He let himself in.  
  
"Hi." She said walking toward him.  
  
"You ready."  
  
She nodded.  
  
"What about the security detail?" He asked as he held the door open for her.  
  
"Kendall called them off." As Vaughn opened the door to his car, Wally came running out of the house.  
  
"Ma'am..um.you'll be needing these." He was holding up a set of keys. He handed them to her and then explained where she could find out the alarm system code. She thanked him and then got in the car.  
  
"Kendall's letting you stay in the safe-house." Vaughn said as he started the car.  
  
"Yeah, he told me to take some time off, before returning to train again."  
  
He drove a few blocks before speaking again. "I may be way off base, but is that what you really want? I mean before.well you weren't sure you wanted to stay with the CIA."  
  
"I'm not really sure. I guess Kendall just assumed I want to resume my place at the CIA, but I still feel the same way I did. before." There was a long silence. "Hey, I though you had Caleb." She looked over at him.  
  
"Yeah well I dropped him off at my mom's. I figured it would be easier to talk that way." He glanced over at her. She smiled and then looked out the window.  
  
"Where are we going?" She said as she looked in the side mirror.  
  
"It's a surprise." He said as he took the exit ramp off the freeway. Sydney watched in the mirror as they drove. She noticed the black car following them they stopped at the light at the end of the exit ramp. "Is everything alright?" Vaughn asked, noticing as she intently starred into the side mirror.  
  
"We're being followed." She said nonchalantly.  
  
"What? By who?" He looked in the rear view mirror, and then checked his side mirror.  
  
"Slone's men, my father said they were watching me."  
  
"Wait a minute, you talked to your father. When?"  
  
"Today. It's a long story, but I met with my father and my mother."  
  
"Okay.so do you want to try and lose these guys or what?" He as clearly confused.  
  
"Nope, just keep going where you were going. I don't want them to know that I know that their following me."  
  
"Alright." Vaughn said as he stopped at stop light. "So explain to me about meeting with your parents." He looked over at her.  
  
"Well Sark led me to them. They were trying to be secretive because of Slone's men. They've known that Slone was watching me, ever since Hong Kong." She wasn't sure weather or not to tell him everything.  
  
"What do they want to do about them?"  
  
"Well," She said deciding to let him in, "tomorrow we're going set a little mouse trap, and question the surveillance team about Slone."  
  
"How?" He started driving again.  
  
"It's a long story, and it doesn't matter."  
  
"Well Sydney it does matter that you have a team of Slone's men watching you, and you've just let Kendall get rid of your security detail. How do you know Slone's not just waiting for the right moment, while you're alone, to nab you again." He was very shaken by the thought of Sydney disappearing again, and Sydney could tell.  
  
"I'll be fine, if Slone wanted to take me again than he would have done it already. Really Vaughn I'll be alright."  
  
He didn't answer, but pulled into the parking lot of a very nice French restaurant. He parked and then led the way into the restaurant. 


	16. Dinner and a car chase

"So...tell me more about meeting with your parents." He said as they looked over their menus. He was very uneasy sitting there, knowing that they were being watched. How could she be so nonchalant about the whole thing? She didn't know what it was like to lose her, and then get her back. Yeah, that was it. She didn't feel that aching fear. He was constantly afraid that she'd leave him again, it never stopped. She didn't understand that.  
  
"They didn't tell me much. Just about the 'rat pack', and the 'mouse trap." She was trying to be as covert as possible, unsure of weather the surveillance team could hear their conversation. She hoped that they couldn't because they would hear that she had talked to her mother and father.  
  
"And what about Sark?" He asked.  
  
"I can't believe that all this time he's been my brother. I mean it's just so weird." She set down her menu and leaned in across the table. "I just don't get why my mother never told me."  
  
Vaughn followed suit, and soon they very practically whispering in each other's ears. "It is weird." He said smiling.  
  
The waiter came and took their orders. After that they talked about inconsequential things like politics, and world happenings. When they were finished eating, Vaughn paid, and led her out the car. He was nervous and kept looking around the parking lot. Sydney grabbed his arm and leaned into him. "I think we should take a cab." She whispered. "We've both had too much to drink." She stumbled as if she were drunk. In actuality they hadn't had a drop of alcohol between them. Vaughn didn't drink anymore, after his liver problems. He laughed loudly and turned around. He began to sing an old Irish love song, and stumbled a little as well. He always did play a good drunk, Sydney though to herself.  
  
Vaughn hailed a cab and once they were in told the driver the directions to the safe house. As they pulled away from the curb they were both alerted to the sound of tires screeching behind them. Vaughn glance out the back window and saw a large black SUV tailing them closely. The widow's were tinted and he couldn't see the driver. Then the gun fire began. The driver started shouting and Vaughn pulled Sydney down onto the seat. After a moment he realized that they weren't shooting at the cab of the car, but the tires. "Speed up!" He yelled to the driver. He looked back again to see the SUV in hot pursuit. The went over the situation mentally, they couldn't outrun, or out maneuver the SUV. Take a quick right at the next street. Right here." He yelled at the driver. He was still holding Sydney protectively against his chest. The driver followed his instructions and they took a hard right. Sydney pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and hit the number 1 button hard. It immediately dialed, and soon she was connected to her father. She explained the situation.  
  
"Sydney, you need to find a place to hide. You can't out run them, and they have too much fire power over you. Give me your exact coordinates." She pulled away from Vaughn and tried to read a street sign as they passed it quickly. It was late on a week night, and most of the streets were deserted. Vaughn continued to yell orders to the taxi driver and they sped up and made sharp turns constantly. Sydney was still trying to find the name of a street when her phone went dead. She put her head down against Vaughn's chest again and though hard about what to do. Vaughn was succeeding at keeping them a good distance in front of their pursuers, but if a tire got shot out they were screwed.  
  
Suddenly Sydney saw an image in her mind. A large warehouse, and a garage door just beginning to close. She looked up out the window. They had entered an area with large warehouses and dimly lit streets. The cab driver took a left, per Vaughn's instructions, and Sydney saw the warehouse she'd seen in her mind.  
  
"Pull in there!" She yelled. The cab driver obeyed, and they made it under the closing door just in time. The cab screeched to a halt as the door shut firmly behind them. Vaughn quickly got out of the car and ran to the huge door that had just closed. There was a smaller "human sized" door just to the left of the large door, and it had a small window. Vaughn carefully peered through it and watched the black SUV pass the warehouse they were now hiding in.  
  
"We're clear." He said walking back to the cab. The driver was sitting in the front seat, looking as if he might pass out. "Were those Slone's men?" Vaughn asked as he help Sydney out of the cab.  
  
"I think so I didn't get a good look at any of them."  
  
"Me neither." He replied pulling his cell phone from his pocket.  
  
"Don't use that." Sydney said grabbing her cell phone and checking for service. "I bet they have it bugged. In fact turn it off, it's like a beacon. They'll find us in no time. Damn still no service." She said pocketing her phone.  
  
Vaughn pulled out some cash and handed it to the driver. "We should get out of here." He said looking around the very large-empty warehouse where they stood.  
  
"You're right. I think there might be an office over there," she pointed, "maybe it had a phone." They both began walking toward the small office and found it locked.  
  
"Syd, how did you know to pull into this warehouse?" He said staring at her.  
  
"I didn't, I just saw the door closing in my mind, and when we turned the corner it was there in real life. It must have been some kind of intuition." She said scanning the warehouse for another exit.  
  
"That's some intuition you got there." Vaughn said as he watched her in disbelief.  
  
************************************************  
  
Tell me what you think! I don't know if I like where this is headed, but suggestions are welcomed!! 


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